DINNER DISASTER

REVIEWED - LEMMING: IN THE intriguing, cleverly plotted 2000 thriller Harry, He's Here to Help, Dominik Moll demonstrated his flair for hooking and sustaining the viewer's attention. His latest film, Lemming, on which Moll again shares screenplay credit with Gilles Marchand, begins just as promisingly, writes Michael Dwyer

It introduces Alain Getty (Laurent Lucas) as a fast-rising home automation engineer proudly unveiling his latest invention, a mini flying webcam. He and his wife Benedicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg) have moved to a town in southern France, and they feel obliged to invite Alain's new employer, Richard (André Dussolier) and his wife, Alice (Charlotte Rampling) to dinner.

The first sign that this won't go as perfectly as planned comes when Benedicte finds a lemming, a Scandinavian rodent, in the drainpipe. Then the guests arrive extremely late. Alice, wearing dark glasses indoors, is seething with rage and explains that her husband was with one of his whores, and she throws a glass of red wine in his face.

As the tension crackles between these two couples from different generations, the scene appears to be set for a witty, sophisticated spin on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The scenario is laced with dark humour and the four actors respond with admirable conviction, with Rampling on sublime form.

It's all the more disappointing when, after a thoroughly engaging first half, the movie unravels precariously and the screenplay wanders off on a series of irrational tangents that turn frustrating to the point where it's hard to care any longer about the characters and their fates.